Bristol Myers Squibb said on Monday it will pay $800 million up front and up to $8.4 billion to a unit of Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical Co to develop and commercialize one of its cancer treatments outside China.

Under the terms of the agreement, SystImmune will be solely responsible for development and commercialization of the drug in mainland China, while Bristol Myers outside the country.

Bristol Myers said it will pay SystImmune up to $500 million in contingent near-term payments to co-develop an antibody-drug conjugate that it said has shown promise with a range of solid tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer.

SystImmune will be eligible for additional payments of up to $7.1 billion contingent upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and sales performance milestones.

  - Reuters